One person who will not be seeking the House seat of longtime Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), who announced today he will retire this year after serving 40 years, is lesbian former state Senator Sheila Kuehl.

While she lives in the seaside district, Kuehl has no plans to abandon her bid for a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors seat.

“No. I’m staying in my race for supervisor,” Kuehl told the Bay Area Reporter this afternoon (Thursday, January 30) in an email. “I feel very prepared for the role by my fourteen years in Sacramento dealing with all the same issues and I have always preferred being in a position where you can make a difference by your service.”

Should she win her supervisor race, Kuehl would make history as the first out LGBT county supervisor in Los Angeles. She has been preparing her supervisorial bid since being termed out of the state Legislature in 2008.

The county board’s third district supervisor seat is currently held by Zev Yaroslavsky, who is termed out this year. Under a change Los Angeles County voters instituted in 2002, supervisors are no longer able to serve lifetime terms on the board and are termed out after three consecutive terms totaling 12 years.

The race for Yaroslavsky’s seat is the first open seat to become up for grabs under the new rules.

This month former Santa Monica City Councilman Bobby Shriver, 59, the son of Sargent and Eunice Shriver and the nephew of President Kennedy, jumped into the race. His candidacy had long been expected.

Others seeking the seat on the June Primary ballot include gay West Hollywood Councilman John Duran and former Malibu Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich.

The district covers the western part of Los Angeles County, including the Westside, most of the San Fernando Valley, the Conejo Valley and the Santa Monica Mountains to the Ventura County line.